iPhone 5 Release & What It Means For Your Business

For those who missed the news, Apple officially announced the coming of the new iPhone 5 to an eagerly awaiting public on September 12th. As the iPhone 4S was merely an upgraded iPhone 4, it’s been awhile since a major update to the iconic phone was made. Consumers have been craving some major new features. Did they get what they were looking for? Depends whom you talk to….

New Features

The most notable feature announced was a 4inch, taller screen that allows a 5th row of icons to fit within the display. Apple fans were pleased to see that the width was not increased as most enjoy the traditional feel of the iPhone which many claim is more comfortable to hold than the over-sized Android phones. Below is a summary of the other new features announced:

30% Thinner profile

20% Lighter weight

Metal backing

4G LTE Support

2X Faster processing speed

Additional microphone added (now 3 in total)

Improved camera

What The iPhone 5 Means For Your Business

From a business standpoint, there are a few positives to the iPhone 5 and one major negative. On the plus side, the larger screen will allow for an expanded calendar view and better viewing of productivity apps. Employees will have an easier time working with the phone. Additionally, this new generation of the iPhone will result in Apple cutting their prices dramatically on the iPhone 4S. If you were in the market for a large order of new, quality smart phones for your business, consider purchasing the iPhone 4S and potentially saving thousands of dollars.

What Happened To The iPhone 5 NFC Technology?

The major disappointment for business owners is that Apple did not include NFC (Near Field Communication) technology in the iPhone 5. This comes as a surprise to many as Apple’s main competitors have already implemented NFC in a number of their phones. From a business owner’s standpoint, NFC will enable their customers to pay for purchases through their smart phones. Industry leading companies including MasterCard and Google have already developed mobile wallet systems which require NFC enabled smartphones to operate on. In addition to using NFC with mobile wallets, businesses would be able to use NFC devices or one way NFC tags to pass valuable data along to consumers through their smartphones. Basically, everything that QR Codes can do, NFC can do and more.

There is much speculation as to why NFC was bypassed by Apple in the current version. Some believe Apple is letting other phone manufacturers test the waters before jumping in. Apple approached the 4G LTE technology in the same manner. Others feel that Apple is still ironing out their own mobile payment/wallet system that they wanted to deploy. This may one day be a feature of the Apple Passbook that will be part of iOS6. If this theory is true, it would make sense that Apple would not want to allow other competing mobile wallet companies to utilize the iPhone, hence why they would hold out on the NFC capability for the time being. A third thought of why NFC was not included in the iPhone 5 is because of the metal casing. NFC does not penetrate metal well and may have had issues with working in the new iPhone 5.